Pyre cut to one Haldwani show after outselling Mumbai

Vinod Kapri is asking a simple question after Pyre lost almost its entire theatrical presence in Haldwani: why cut a film where the audience has already voted with ticket sales?

The film, directed by Kapri, released in theatres on October 30, 2026. In its opening week, Haldwani ran 12–13 shows a day. Now, the filmmaker says, the Uttarakhand town is down to a single daily screening.

Haldwani is not a fringe market

Kapri pointed out that Haldwani was Pyre‘s third-largest centre after Delhi and Dehradun. It also sold more tickets than Mumbai for the first time, with Mumbai placed eighth in the film’s centre-wise sales, according to a Bollywood Hungama report cited by Kapri.

• Delhi – the film’s top centre
• Dehradun – second, boosted by the film’s hill connection
• Haldwani – third, now left with a single daily show
• Mumbai – eighth despite being the traditional Hindi-film stronghold

Some towns have no shows at all

The problem extends beyond Haldwani. Kapri told India Today that Pyre currently has no screenings in Nainital, Pithoragarh, Bareilly and Kotdwar.

Kapri wrote on social media: “The audience has spoken loud and clear… HALDWANI DESERVES MORE SHOWS.”

He added that he is not asking for 10–12 shows or even four. In cities with no shows, he wants at least one. In cities with one show, he wants two or three.

A wider box-office signal

This comes after Pyre received attention for outperforming several October releases, including Tu Hai Meri Kiran and Prem Keetanu. The Haldwani-Mumbai contrast is the most telling detail: a hill-rooted film found its real audience in Uttarakhand while the usual metro-first booking pattern lagged.

Exhibitors often trim screens after opening week, but the tension here is that the trimming happened after strong local demand. For film fans, that means checking local listings early, and not treating a single show as a lack of interest.

Source: India Today